There are a few issues with Making the emerald dream an expansion, rather than a zone or an instance.

Off the top of my head...

1. How do you make classes other than druids feel like they matter and aren't out of place?

2. How do you have faction bases in an ephemeral plane where there aren't really resources or whatever to dig up or build or obtain?

1. Other classes have to help druids, also the Earthen Ring joined the cause of the Cenarion Circle, players wont feel out of place.

2. There is ressources on the Emerald Dream, the Emerald Dream is Azeroth like if it wasn't altered by organic creatures. Plus there is maybe a way to transport materials from Azeroth to the Emerald Dream.

The next expansion is totally about a carrot-shaped Old God named Carrot'thun enthralling Virmen whom in turn invade Azeroth by digging tunnels into all arable land of Azeroth and stealing all the vegetables.

Most of the indications point to the Burning Legion being next, but I wouldn't rule out an Emerald Dream expansion in the long term.

While it's true the immediate threat of the Nightmare was dealt with in the Stormrage novel, there's a big difference between "containing a significant threat" and "eliminating all possible threats forever". For all we know an Emerald Dream expansion may include the remnants of the Nightmare only as a B plot with some new invader taking up the reigns as the primary antagonist.

If Blizzard could extrapolate an entire expansion from what boiled down to a single established character like they did with MoP, to say an Emerald Dream expansion is absolutely impossible displays a lack of imagination.

Roleplaying, hardcore Raiding, running LFR on the occasional weekend, PvPing, rolling alts, achievement hunting, pet battling, or just enacting an endless series of whims, I don't care how you play WoW. Just as long as you have fun doing it.

I don't understand why people would rule out a Emerald Dream expansion. To those people, why can't Blizzard write new lore? Why CAN'T the nightmare return? It would be IMO very stupid for Blizzard to write off the Emerald Dream entirely.

Remember how bad people bitched at them remaking Azeroth during cata? Now imagine how bad people will bitch for a green Azeroth with a couple new bosses.

I think a emerald dream raid would be fine but a whole expansion would probably be too much.

A green Azeroth ?
Who knows how Azeroth was before anything happened here ?
Who already travelled in the old Kalimdor here ?
Absolutely no one, it would be totally different and unrecognisable for someone who doesn't know the lore. It doesn't only implies the separation of Kalimdor, it also implies that the mountains wont be in the same place etc ...

It's like if you could see the Earth 250 millions years ago, the only continent was Pangaea.
If you were in the middle of that :

The next expansion is totally about a carrot-shaped Old God named Carrot'thun enthralling Virmen whom in turn invade Azeroth by digging tunnels into all arable land of Azeroth and stealing all the vegetables.

good one

Blizzard lost its mind long time ago and was fully exposed with the panda expansion.

I do expect rabbits and shits in the next expansion and not burning legion or emerald dream or azshara...

I don't understand why people would rule out a Emerald Dream expansion. To those people, why can't Blizzard write new lore? Why CAN'T the nightmare return? It would be IMO very stupid for Blizzard to write off the Emerald Dream entirely.

I think the reasonable response is the same one to all those sure about a legion expansion; we don't know yet and all the so-called hints are not hints at all but rather cherrypicking pieces of lore that fit what they want to believe and completely disregarding everything else.

Emerald Dream possible? Yes, it certainly is.
Legion invades once more? Sure, KJ still has an axe to grind.
N'zoth and other Old Gods? Well I'm sure after his big attempt through Deathwing was foiled he's brooding and furious
Azshara and the naga? It'd be an injustice not to take her out for good and write the end to their story.
Something new and completely different? Entirely possible, look at Pandaria.

Will this be next? Who knows, the plot hasn't wrapped up for any of their stories. There are no certainties till Blizzard says what it is officially.

I think the reasonable response is the same one to all those sure about a legion expansion; we don't know yet and all the so-called hints are not hints at all but rather cherrypicking pieces of lore that fit what they want to believe and completely disregarding everything else.

Emerald Dream possible? Yes, it certainly is.
Legion invades once more? Sure, KJ still has an axe to grind.
N'zoth and other Old Gods? Well I'm sure after his big attempt through Deathwing was foiled he's brooding and furious
Azshara and the naga? It'd be an injustice not to take her out for good and write the end to their story.
Something new and completely different? Entirely possible, look at Pandaria.

Will this be next? Who knows, the plot hasn't wrapped up for any of their stories. There are no certainties till Blizzard says what it is officially.

The fact Wrathion's stated goal is end the Horde/Alliance conflict quickly before they exhaust their strength and are unable to challenge the Burning Legion is an awfully big cherry. That isn't some subtle hint buried deep in the game's dialogue, that's something he outright tells players at the begining of the Legendary questline. Just because there are multiple possibilities doesn't mean that all possibilities are equally likely for the next expansion.

Right now the Burning Legion tops the list at being most likely by a considerable margin. It's always possible of course that Blizzard is being deliberately misleading, or that they changed gears sometime late in MoP's development cycle (MoP wasn't originally planned as the expansion to follow Cataclysm after all), but I find those possibilities less likely then the chance it will be the Burning Legion after all.

Roleplaying, hardcore Raiding, running LFR on the occasional weekend, PvPing, rolling alts, achievement hunting, pet battling, or just enacting an endless series of whims, I don't care how you play WoW. Just as long as you have fun doing it.

There is one simple reason why The Emerald Dream will NOT be an expansion. Size. The Emerald Dream is the size of Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Northrend, Pandaria, and any other undiscovered areas combined. How do you populate an area that big, without making travel between areas tedious (fly from the top of a continent to the bottom some time) and expect it to only last 5-10 levels? I could easily see a raid and a couple of dungeons existing using some type of lore along the lines of it taking all the focus of whoever is sending you there, to allow mortals to roam in that area. For mobs there could be dragons, Trolls and their "gods" (it does state that some of them exist in the emerald dream), tons of spawns from the Old God, and possibly some guardians created by the Titans.

There is one simple reason why The Emerald Dream will NOT be an expansion. Size. The Emerald Dream is the size of Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Northrend, Pandaria, and any other undiscovered areas combined. How do you populate an area that big, without making travel between areas tedious (fly from the top of a continent to the bottom some time) and expect it to only last 5-10 levels? I could easily see a raid and a couple of dungeons existing using some type of lore along the lines of it taking all the focus of whoever is sending you there, to allow mortals to roam in that area. For mobs there could be dragons, Trolls and their "gods" (it does state that some of them exist in the emerald dream), tons of spawns from the Old God, and possibly some guardians created by the Titans.

I've been waiting for an emerald dream expansion but my issue is that they made a book, the other books published lead into the expansions but the emerald dream book actually dealt with the emerald nightmare threat itself... and the end teldressil was cleansed as well as the emerald dream with the dragon aspects losing their powers to power the dragon soul I dont see how they can do it and make the lore work.

There is one simple reason why The Emerald Dream will NOT be an expansion. Size. The Emerald Dream is the size of Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Northrend, Pandaria, and any other undiscovered areas combined. How do you populate an area that big, without making travel between areas tedious (fly from the top of a continent to the bottom some time) and expect it to only last 5-10 levels?

Have a bunch of new zones representing the lost areas of ancient Kalimdor, and surrounded them in impenetrable Nightmare fog that restricts travel, the same way the oceans do now with the existing continents, or the Nether does for Outland.